Amazon Optimization

Did you know there are specific things you can do to help optimize your book’s listing on Amazon’s website? While it is ultimately up to the online retailer how they list your title, below are some helpful tips to help enhance your title’s listing and boost discoverability.

Suggestions to Implement on your IngramSpark^® Account

Discoverability Metadata - Amazon’s search algorithm categorizes books using their own categories that do not directly correlate with one specific metadata field. They use a combination of several fields. For this reason, it’s crucial for the metadata on your title to be specific and complete. The recommendations below should be made directly to the title in your IngramSpark account. Ingram feeds this data to Amazon.

• BISAC Subjects - Yous should have appropriate BISAC subjects and use all three.
• Thema Subjects - You should use Thema subjects which can help with categorization on international sites (Amazon.uk, Amazon.au, etc.)
• Keywords – Be sure you utilize accurate and sufficient keywords in your metadata.
  • If you have a specific Amazon category you want your book included in, use that category name as a keyword. Some examples of Amazon categories include Women’s Adventure Fiction, and Enemies to Lovers Romance.
  • If applicable, use words from the AI-generated review summary from your product’s Amazon page.
• Book Descriptions – Provide a detailed book description. Amazon category names can also be included in the description. Also consider providing a short description because Amazon may use this in search engine results.  

Discount and Returnability – the wholesale discount and returnability of a book are both important to help ensure your title’s availability is listed as favorably as possible.

• A 55% wholesale discount is most favorable.
• A returnable status is also recommended.

 
Suggestions to Action on Amazon.com

In addition to making sure your title is in tip-top shape on your IngramSpark account, you can also enhance your book’s product page directly on Amazon.com. Below are some tips and suggestions to be made directly with Amazon. 

Add a Video
Amazon highlights video in the product image carousel. On your book’s product page there is an “upload video” button below the Product details section. Authors and publishers can post any book trailers or video content here. This is a great place to repurpose social media content.

Add Photos
Lifestyle images of your book can also be added to customer reviews. Consider having a trusted reader add attractive photos to their review.

Create an Amazon Author Central Page
You can create an author profile directly on Amazon.com where you can provide photos, a bio, and link to all your titles. For more info on setting up an Author Central Account, see here. Please note, some info provided through an Author Central account may override data from Ingram.